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ePaper created 2015-01-29, 17:46:37 | version 1.34.01
| 16 Faso and Cabo Verde have utilised renewable energy auctions for project allocation. While the EREP established regional targets for renewable heating and transportation, only a handful of Member States have enacted national policies or targets directed at these sectors. Sierra Leone is the only ECOWAS Member State with an established target for the use of solar thermal technology, while both Ghana and Senegal have enacted mandates for the use of renewable heat. Ghana has also adopted a 50% import tax reduction for solar water heaters. In the transportation sector, Mali and Ghana have both established mandates for the use of biofuels, while Nigeria has established a 10% ethanol blend and 20% biodiesel target under its national biofuel policy. Energy efficiency is increasingly becoming a central focus of policymakers in the region. However, the uptake of energy efficiency policies has been slow compared to the renewable energy sector, with energy efficiency policies having been enacted in only four Member States. Regionally, the EEEP has established targets for energy efficiency improvements across its priority sectors: lighting, electricity distribution, cooking, standards and labelling, building codes, and financing. Within individual Member States, mandates, incentives, and financing measures to promote efficiency are beginning to be adopted. Standards—often called Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS)—and labelling for energy-efficient products are primary regulatory measures used to promote energy efficiency in the region. To date, MEPS have beenutilisedprimarilyforlighting,aswellasforelectricalappliances like air conditioners and refrigerators. As of early-2014, Ghana and Nigeria were the only ECOWAS Member States with MEPS in place, having established standards for CFLs and air conditioners and self-ballasted lamps and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) respectively. Additional standards are being developed in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Senegal. At the international level, Ghana and Nigeria are engaged with the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, the International Organization for Standardization, and a network of 20 countries to develop international standards for cook stoves and clean cooking solutions. Mandates and/or quotas for the use of energy-efficient lighting are now in place in both Ghana and Senegal. Ghana has banned the importation and sale of used cooling equipment, while Senegal has developed a biomass quota system to reduce dependence on forest resources for cooking fuels. As with renewable energy technologies, a host of tax incentives and public financing measures for energy efficiency have been employed in the region, although to a lesser degree. INVESTMENTS Globally, an estimated USD 214 billion was invested in renewable energy technologies in 2013.This figure rises to USD 249.4 billion if large hydropower is included. After increasing by 228% from 2011 to 2012, renewable energy investment in the Middle East and Africa declined in 2013, attracting USD 9 billion (down from USD 11 billion in 2012). Overall, the Middle East and Africa accounted for 4.2% of the global investment total. Despite the lack of consolidated, reliable data on investments in the renewable energy sector for the ECOWAS region, analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance of six leading ECOWAS Member States—Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone—shows a historically variable investment climate for renewables. In 2013, these six countries attracted USD 29.7 million, down significantly from the peak of USD 370 million in 2011. Both public and private financing have played an important role in the sector’s development to date. While data on private finance flows in the region is not widely available, an analysis of regional projects such as the Cabeolica Wind Farm shows that private financing has played a key role in project development. Further incentivising private finance has been one of the key priorities within the developing regional energy policy framework. Public financing from national, regional, and international institutions has also been instrumental in the funding of renewable energy development in the ECOWAS region. Domestic governments, international development partners, and multilateral development banks have all allocated funds to the region’s energy sector. Millions of dollars of support have been lined up through specialised regional and Africa-wide funds and programmes such as the ECOWAS-led Renewable Energy Investment Initiative (EREI) and Renewable Energy Facility (EREF), the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), the African Renewable Energy Fund (AREF), and the Power Africa Initiative. International financing through mechanisms established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process—such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Climate Investment Funds (CIF), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)—have all supported renewable energy development in the region and offer an opportunity to continue scaling up future investments. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY